6 Ways To Promote Your Podcast
Finishing up the last two weeks of the course titled podcasting in business I have learned a great deal about personal branding and marketing your social media websites. In this particular post I will explain six ideas I thought can help boost your podcast programming. Now this may sound similar to my earlier post on seven ways to increase your podcast subscription but these are two different fields. If you believe you have the recording and publishing down but looking for ways to promote here are my suggestions from my experiences.
Take notes and apply these for your next podcast episode:
1. List your podcast in multiple directories. In the days before Google search engines and Microsoft’s Bing many businesses listed their addresses and phone numbers in the Yellow Pages. The same applies to podcast producers who have over 125 different podcast directories to list their shows.
2. Make a press kit for media outlets. Getting coverage from various media outlets requires time and preparations. I suggest setting up a template of press releases that you can adjust and edit once you complete your episodes to send to news reporters, submit to Advertising Age, or use the traditional distribution services like PR Newswire and Business Wire.
3. Network, Network, Network. The is a very crucial practice of becoming an effective podcast producer. The interesting part is that this is a combination of two words net and work. You can translate this however you like with offline socializing and promoting your website or using web 2.0 applications to engage your target audience. Sending out a Twitter blast using keywords and links to your podcast website can be very useful.
4. Show your badge. Just as police officers are required to show their badges upon arriving at a scene you as a producer of downloadable media files should identify your brand with a badge. They cost nothing and are easy to embed in various websites, blogs and social networks. A badge gives the potential listener a map to visit your website and hear your episodes without typing the actual web address.
5. Record a Promo. A brief audio file that promotes your podcast is a great way to provide listeners a “snippet” of what to expect in further episodes. Make sure not to make your promos too long or else you will lose the listeners attention. Your promo is only a mini commercial for your full episode and I suggest you upload your promos at www.podcastpromos.com and www.promos.podshow.com.
6. Provide ranking services. Many directories have the ability to let listeners vote for their favorite podcasts and I encourage you to provide this link. By having a high ranking on these services your podcast can get listed or featured on the directories websites. People who are searching for podcast to listen to use these high ranked recommendations despite not hearing about the podcast beforehand.
I hope these are helpful tips that will assist you in promoting your digital media programs. Once you have a good promotional plan I suggest you read my other post on ways to increase your subscription listings.
Editing Tips For Podcasting
After you have recorded all the audio you wanted for your show the next step is gathering it together for the editing process. This process includes removing audio, improving sound, and final cut that the subscribers would download. Editing is a skill that requires time and precision with peaks in audio, “introductions” and “outros”. Here are a few tips on helping you with your editing stages.
Mixtapes vs. Podcast
In 1979 popular music culture was dominated by disco music, rock n roll, R& B, and funk bands that were entering the 80s with a gumbo mixture later known as hip hop. The culture of hip hop began as a subculture for young people who were not old enough to get into the late night disco clubs and could not afford the many instruments of a rock band. Instead they developed a form of art that intertwined music, fashion, art, and dance that grew from Jamaica sound systems to American Latino and black communities in the inner city.
Hip hop as a culture in the beginning was underground and often criticized by the older generation as a fad that would not last longer than a few years. This avoidance became a growing epidemic that eventually stretched to the west coast, suburbs and all across the world as a dominant youth expression. Building from the rebellious music of Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Funkadelic, The Rolling Stones and Led Zepplin hip hop began to express the anger of American ghettos in a form of poetry that required blunt verbal sentencing. Mixing this lyrical format with modern technology instruments like the turntable, keyboards, and drum machines the rhythm reflected a new sound that allowed boys and girls to dance in style called B-boying or B-girling. The usage of new technology became crucial in hip hop’s early stages as more producers and writers were able to make an album without the large budget spending of a six piece band.
Record companies saw this evolution as a great opportunity to make profits without big investments. The only problem was to convince the radio stations and TV networks to allow hip hop to perform in the mix of their traditional playlist. There was no “hip hop” hour for DJs to play unlike a blues show, rock show, or R & B show in regular broadcasting radio stations. Once the underground demands for this new form of music out grew the resistance, hip hop finally entered mainstream media. Commercialization became part of the marketing of the record companies and profit was the only concern which in return choked artist from expressing themselves honestly. The mainstream music became a negative reflection of the communities that vibrantly birthed hip hop providing radio programs the power to choose what people should hear.
Why Should Businesses Podcast?
As more applications are developing each year changing the way we communicate with each other one of the most relevant forms is podcasting. Since the rise of itunes grew rapidly other directories compete with the giant Apple in both audio and video formats. With podcasting the dialog is changing from media companies and corporations telling us what they “want” us to hear to the consumer “creating” their own demands. According to a UK survey over 80% of listeners will seek the products and services they hear about in a podcast.
In the beginning, podcasting was not fully understood from a business perspective instead it was very selective. Only technology influencers followed this new form of audio communication until the ipod was saturating the globe and itunes directory dominated the downloading of paid music. This new medium created a platform for podcasters to begin a new revolution while reaching larger audiences. Without the constraints of major radio broadcasting, listeners can enjoy personalized talk or news programs unlike other traditional media outlets.
